Friday, June 25, 2021

Migration to Africa (UFO) and Other Finishes

Hello everyone! I hope you're having a good week and get lots of quilting done. 
It's winter on the Southern hemisphere. We're having a cold front from Antarctica; rain, wind and 3-4 degrees (Celsius) drop in temperature. (Actually no rain the last days!). This morning we have +14C / 57.2F and 65% humidity. The cold gets into my bones! BRRR! Never in my life did I imagine I have to wear wool clothes in the tropics, but that's what I'm wearing!

To keep my fingers warm, I've been working on my list from my previous post and I think I've done pretty good! After finishing 7 items in about one week, am I allowed to work on something else?! My answer is YES!!! ... but what?! The Pineapple UFO? A bit bored with that one. I have more UFO's to finish, but none of them are tempting. The Cardinal Tea Cozies? Maybe... I shall see...

I happy to finally show the finished 'Migration to Africa'! (A UFO from last year).


It started out with the 'Flying Geese' blocks and the 2 blocks in the center. Those are leftovers from this quilt I made for my dear childhood friend in Norway in 2012. I had totally forgotten about those blocks and rediscovered them (last year) in a box when I was looking for something else. The original plan was to use the blocks for a pieced backing for another quilt (can't even remember which one!). I had no design in mind when I started out. I had the blocks and searched my stash for 'ugly' and 'never-going-to-use' fabrics.  


I pulled out some orange pieces, mottled black (for the stained glass look) a small piece brown checks, dancing African ladies and some other small bits and pieces. 


The last piece I decided to use is a not-so-ugly brown and green fabric. For the border, back and binding, I have used my favorite Stonehenge wide back. I just love this beautiful fabric! I had enough for the border, but had to purchase more for the backing. So you see, not all fabric used in this quilt is 'ugly'! lol 
Quilting: All the 17 'Flying Geese' + 2 other blocks are quilted 'in-the-ditch', and to repeat the triangles, the borders on each side of the 'Flying Geese' I've quilted in a 'Chevron' (triangle) pattern and so are the orange rectangles. The 'Dancing Ladies' and brown/green rectangles are quilted in triangles too with 1' in between each seam. 


For the border I've done diagonal straight seams, 1' between each seem. 'Of course' it didn't match up at the end! I pondered about that for awhile, then decided to rip part of the seams and do horizontal straight seams on each side (top) instead. It turned out as if there's never been done a mistake! lol For the quilting I used Superior Threads King Tut #983. Binding is machine sewn to the back. 
I usually don't note how many hours I spend on an item, but for fun I decided to see how many hours went into quilting (only) this one. Any guess? 56 hours!
Size: 69 x 98 inches / 175 x 249 cm. Maybe an odd size, XL Twin?

I managed to stick to my to-do list (without starting anything new) and here are a few more finishes (not UFO's)


Using up bits and pieces, had enough for a Christmas Card Holder


a small Wall Hanging


...and just enough squares for a table topper. The border is from another fabric line and just enough too. 


3 Advent Calendars finished. I don't have to show all 3 of the same, do I? :) 


... and 9 more blocks for a PSQuilt. These blocks are easy to make, a 36-patches takes about 30 min and fun to do in between other projects. 

This is how my list looks like today:

 - Migration to Africa (UFO) - binding - DONE!

- 3 Tea Cozies, Cardinals - all pieces cut - no progress

- PSQ blocks 36 patches - ongoing project - 9 blocks done

- 3 Advent Calendars - quilting/binding - DONE!

- 3 Advent Calendars - purchase backing fabric - DONE!

- Christmas Card Holder - quilting/binding - DONE!

- Christmas Table Topper - quilting/binding - DONE!

- Christmas Wall Hanging - quilting/binding - DONE!

- Pineapple Quilt (UFO) - make a pieced backing - not done

HAPPY QUILTING!

 

7 comments:

Barwitzki said...

You're great Astrid ... the Africa quilt is wonderful, so many beautiful details, the Dansing Ladies, for example, are a dream. Yeah, I like the quilt too ... a lot.
Santa Claus and the Christmas calendar are great, great to look at ... even if it's midsummer here with us ... I wish you many nice warm thoughts and I hope that you have a nice warm sweater :-) Many greetings to you from the bottom of my heart.

Chantal said...

You rock, girl!! So many projects done, Congratulations! Love the Migration to Africa. Love the colours, the quilting, the ladies, yep I love that one. Here's to a lovely weekend and more projects finished. ;^)

Uniquely Yours Creations said...

Wow Astrid you sure have been busy! Everything turned out wonderful!

Vicki in MN said...

Oh gosh that was a fun post to read! You had a fabulous finish week, way to go! I loved looking at your Africa quilt, so creative with the stained glass look.

Sheri said...

Wow! You accomplished so much, great job! Fun to find old blocks and make something pretty. And love all those Christmasy finishes! I thought of you living in a tropical climate so surprised it was winter for you.

Claire said...

I love "Migration to Africa! The best finds come when I am looking for something else. :-) I'd be glad to share some of Portland Oregon's 110 degrees (F) with you.

Karen S said...

Wow, that is cold for your part of the world!
Lovely to see your finishes. I do like how Migration turned out. Great work with that design.
And of course I enjoy seeing anything Christmas.